Published On May 16, 2024
On September 14, 1989, the Silhouettes and a group of their peers, friends, and fans were socializing at Pete's Dream, a club and bar in Walpole, Massachusetts, when their 1958 recording of "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman" came over the club jukebox. The original four members- lead Bill Horton, tenor Rick Lewis, baritone Earl Beal, and bass Raymond Edwards- grabbed a microphone from the house sound system and joined in to the delight of all present. They then honored two requests- the first being a gospel song they often sang as the Gospel Tornadoes in the 1950s, "I'll Go On Living After I Die", and "Bull Frog", a song they recorded for 20th Fox Records in 1961. They concluded this informal acapella set with a bit of "Bye and Bye", written by the Silhouettes' Earl Beal and first recorded by the Turbans. Unfortunately, the lighting was less than ideal, and the hand-held video cameras of the 1980s had a lower contrast range.